Praying in Nature: Reading the Book of Nature

July 9, 2017 ~ Prev | Intro | Next

During July we are focusing on how the natural world can enhance our prayer life.

From the Psalms and stories in the Bible through the teachers in the church to the Romantic poets, the idea that the beauty, grandeur, and complexity of nature is a window into the mind of God has long been proclaimed. For millennia Christians have been encouraged to seek God outside the constraints of human civilization. Jesus, after all, spoke only rarely in synagogues, but did most of his preaching and healing outdoors on the mountains and on the water.

One of the common images for seeking God in the wild has been to read the Book of Nature. John Wesley wrote:

The Book of Nature is written in an universal character, which everyone may read in his own language. It contains not words, but things which picture out the Divine perfection. The firmament everywhere expanded, with all its starry host, declares the immensity and magnificence, the power and wisdom of its Creator.

Nature reminds us that God is infinite, beyond the capacity of mere human words, which can only make partial attempts to approach the divine mystery.

This week go outside and read from the Book of Nature. Sit in the grass. Watch the sunset. Admire the lightning bugs. Listen closely for God’s voice in the wilderness.

Take a walk among the trees or by a lake. Writer and pastor Gary Thomas says, “Walks that are truly helpful are those in which I lay down my own agenda at the first sign of grass, and let God lead my mind wherever he chooses.” Walk into the Book of Nature and let it write God’s words upon your heart.